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Water slide collapses Thursday in Eagle Harbor; 2 taken to hospitals

A water slide collapsed in Eagle Harbor Thursday sending two to hospitals.

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It started with what a witness said was a loud “crack” and ended up with about 15 people in the water.

A large water slide collapsed Thursday night at the Eagle Harbor community in Fleming Island, sending two people to the hospital, according to Clay County Fire Rescue.

They received a call about 7:15 p.m. and responded to the pool located next to a lake on Eagle Harbor Parkway just off U.S. 17, said Battalion Chief Tom Rodgers.

The slide is described on the Eagle Harbor website as a 110-foot water slide.

Rodgers said the top third of the slide broke off and fell into the lake on the other side of a fence. Ten to 15 people fell from the slide into the lake, Rodgers said.

The section of the slide that broke was about 10 to 12 feet from the lake water. By the time rescue crews arrived, all the people who fell were out of the water and being treated for minor injuries, Rodgers said.

Two people transported to hospitals were taken for precautionary reasons, Rodgers said.

He said there were multiple lifeguards on duty at the time of the collapse.

Sam Hense, a senior at Fleming Island High School, was at the pool when the slide broke for an annual party held by the marching band.

“It looked like there were way too many people on the slide when it collapsed,” Hense said.

He said his 15-year-old brother, Ben, was on the slide when it collapsed and most of the others on the slide were members of the marching band.

Hense said his brother was making a “train” with about 25 people set to go down the slide together.

“One of his friends was on the top of the slide and then a big kid got on and they heard a loud crack,” Hense said.

He said kids make trains to go down the slide a lot and usually the lifeguards allow it with about five people at a time. But on Thursday there were about 25 people in line for the train and the lifeguards didn’t realize they were all going to go down at once, Hense said.